This series keeps finding a way to make me enjoy reading it. The writer keeps crafting a new mystery all while pushing the overarching narrative forward with each new installment. This book crafts a mystery that you don't see through. At the last minute it through a curveball that you couldn't see coming to wrap the whole story together. I don't have many series that I could recommend more then this one.

I read this book via NetGalley. I thank them for this book. ( )

I have been a huge Simon R. Green fan ever since I read his Nightside series. I love how Green mixes sci-fi and horror elements along with a healthy splash of humor....makes for very enjoyable stories! I started reading Ishmael Jones when I finished the Nightside books. For me, this new series filled the void left by the ending of the Nightside storyline. Quirky, a bit scary, definitely entertaining!

Ishmael Jones has a deep, dark secret.....he's actually an alien. He knows he's an alien, but he's been stranded on Earth for a very long time. And he doesn't remember exactly where he is from, or even what he really is. He's been working for various secret organizations for decades doing various strange and dangerous investigations. Now he teams up with his human girlfriend, Penny Balcourt, to investigate mysterious, strange cases around the UK.

Till Sudden Death Do Us Part is the seventh Ishmael Jones story. Ishmael and his sidekick are once again on the case.....but this time it's a bit different. Someone from Ishmael's past hunts him down to ask for help. The family is cursed. Each time a female family member gets married before the sun rises after the wedding night, people will be dead. Ishmael wants to prevent a dead groom and wedding party members..... At the same time, he's dealing with his own inner demons. Literally. It seems he might be remembering who he is.....and his alien self might be trying to pop out into the sunshine.

Great story this time! Green never disappoints me! I enjoyed the story of the family curse and also the character development for Ishmael in this newest book. The ending of the story surprised me a bit....I wasn't expecting either of the two reveals. Nice!

Love this series! I'm definitely on board for the next book!

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Severn House via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.** ( )

Till Sudden Death Do Us Part is the seventh book in the Ishmael Jones mystery series. As I have from the first of these books that I read (number five, Into the Thinnest of Air), I suspect that Mr. Green is paying homage to the late William Hope Hodgson's Carnacki the Ghost Finder. Reading about the curse that has plagued the family of Ishmael's old friend, Robert Bergin, for centuries made me chortle because I recognized which Carnacki case was getting homage this time. Did my knowledge of the original help me figure out the killer? No. Mr. Green created reasons enough to suspect plenty of members of the limited cast.

Ishmael fears that his original alien self is going to take over again. He's been passing for human since 1963 and has no desire to give that up. He also fears that his beloved Penny Belcourt will be repulsed by his original self. They both go to Soho, where Ishmael remembers what it was like during the Swinging Sixties. They are met by the Colonel, who gives Ishmael an UNofficial assignment this time: Robert Bergin, Ishmael's partner at Black Heir (before he left that secret organization in 1988), wants Ishmael's help. Ishmael is more than slightly bothered that Bergin was able to get Black Heir to ask his current employer, the Organization, to find him. He had a different identity back then. Still, Robert is the one who warned him so that Jones left Black Heir in time.

Mr. Green's Ghost Finders, Ishmael Jones, Nightside, and Secret Histories series are all set in the same universe, so don't be surprised when Ishmael names names you might find familiar from those other series. (Ishmael's firm belief that ghosts aren't real makes me smile because on his Earth, they are.)
I enjoyed the glimpses into Ishmael's past. That Jones hasn't aged while Robert has gives Penny some unhappy thoughts about their future.

NOTES:

Chapter 1:

a. Ishmael came to Soho in the 1960s.

b. Ishmael worked for Department Y in the '60s, his first secret group. (I guess Jones doesn't consider MI13, his first job, also back in the 1960s, that secret. Jones talked about MI13 in chapter 3 of book 3, Very Important Corpses. According to that same source, he went to the Demon Runners after MI13, but they might not have been that secret either.)

c. His partner then was Lady Patricia. Other characters from this universe he brings up are: Doctor Alien, Fabulous Freddie, the Acid Sorcerer, the Groovy Ghoul, Downing Street Dopplegangers, Springheel Jack, the Metal Mods, Revolution Nine, and Toby Slaughter.

d. Ishmael tells Penny why he joined Black Heir.

e. If you want to know the mysterious Colonel's name and backstory, see book four, Death Shall Come.

Mentions: Carnaby Street and King's Road in the Swinging Sixties, Summer of Love, Age of Aquarius, International Times, Oz magazine, Charles Dickens, and Savile Row.

Chapter 2:

a. Penny's vintage Rover 25 had its engine torn out in book six, Murder in the Dark.

b. See the same book for when Ishmael was under Brassknocker Hill.

c. David the actor mentions three things he appeared in.

d. Bradford is described. (Jones' opinion of living in a thatched cottage made me chuckle.)

e. Robert Bergin's home is described.

f. Ishmael tells Robert why he chose his current first name, but he's probably joking. Robert explains why he tipped Jones off at Black Heir.

g. Robert explains about the Bergin curse, which started in the 18th century.

h. Robert retired from Black Heir 20 years ago.

Mention: Cosmo magazine

Chapter 3:

a. Ishmael tells Penny what Black Heir does (it's not like the Organization).

b. We hear about the Government special hospital/secret holding centre for persons who have encountered extraterrestrial aliens. It's called Hazard Asylum and it's on the Isle of Wight.

c. Ishmael's belief about why so many aliens come to Earth reminds me of that classic SF film, This Island Earth.

d. Robert lends them two books about the Bergin curse. I like the description of the cover of the first one -- reminds me of my youthful reading tastes.

e. The Swan hotel, where bride, groom, best man, and bridesmaid are staying, is described.

f. Tom Stone, actor and groom, names some of what he's appeared in.

Mentions: Men In Black (the film), ET (the film), Star Trek, Atomic Blonde, Black Sabbath (the rock band), Kerrang! magazine, and Coronation Street

Chapter 4:

a. Penny is being forgetful. The topic of Ishmael and religion came up in chapter 5 of book five, Into the Thinnest of Air.

b. We learn why Godwin is the only member of the police in town just now.

Mentions: 'The Good Ship Venus' song, Agatha Christie, Hunter Thompson, the Marie Celeste, and Chatty Cathy (the term comes from a 1959-1965 doll -- I knew a girl who owned one)

Chapter 5:

a. The titles and authors of those two books on the Bergin curse are given. The bride was Elizabeth Bergin, the groom was Joseph Heartley, and the woman scorned was Susan Glenn. Another supernatural happening is mentioned in one of the books.

b. Robert gives Ishmael some information about Hazard Asylum.

Chapter 6: A pensioner is British for a retiree

Mentions: the Columbo TV show, Mister Sulu from the original Star Trek, and Jekyll & Hyde.

Chapter 7: Mentions: All-Bran cereal, classic movie stars [Peter] Cushing and [Christopher] Lee, Hammer horror films, Bluebeard, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Big, Bad Wolf

Chapter 8:

a. Ismael explains why his cases are in isolated places.

b. We learn why 'Albion Blue Seven' is a security code no police officer wants to hear.

c. The Colonel owed Ishmael a favour from Death Shall Come.

Chapter 9: Mentions: Vogue magazine, [Karen & her brother, Richard] Carpenter, and the experiment with the dyed-green monkey.

I enjoyed Till Sudden Death Do Us Part. We got some more of Ishmael's background and his greatest fears. As I wrote, Mr. Green kept me guessing about the killer. I enjoyed the descriptions. From what happened to the people who fall victim this time, it's understandable that the inhabitants of small town Brandenford are staying in at night until they can be certain the Bergin curse has been broken.

The snarky banter was fun, as usual. Also as is usual for this series, it falls in one of the categories of Carnacki's cases: genuine hauntings or monsters, faked, or mostly fake with a touch of the supernatural. ( )

When an old friend asks for Ishmael Jones' assistance, Ishmael feels he must go even though it means having to step out of the shadows where he has tried to live since his alien ship landed on Earth in the early '60s. The friend's daughter is getting married but there is a curse on the family - the man who marries any daughter born into the family will die on their wedding night. One small problem - the man has not seen Jones in decades and although Jones has taken on human form, he doesn't age. One really big problem - Jones doesn't remember what his alien side was like but now it is fighting to get out and he's pretty sure this doesn't bode well either for Jones or for the planet.

I always enjoy Simon R Green's books in the Ishmael Jones Mystery series and Till Death Do Us Part is no exception. They're kind of a mash-up of paranormal and cozy locked room mysteries and they're great fun to read. This is a fast read with plenty of action and twists and turns but perhaps the most compelling part of this book is Jones' efforts to maintain his humanity.

Thanks to Netgalley and Severn House for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review ( )